Earbuds with compliant member

ABSTRACT

This application relates to earbuds configured with one or more biometric sensors. At least one of the biometric sensors is configured to be pressed up against a portion of the tragus for making biometric measurements. In some embodiments, the housing of the earbud can be symmetric so that the earbud can be worn interchangeably in either a left or a right ear of a user. In such an embodiment, the earbud can include a sensor and circuitry configured to determine and alter operation of the earbud in accordance to which ear the earbud is determined to be sitting in.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/856,344, filed on Sep. 16, 2015. This application is related to thefollowing U.S. patent applications: Ser. No. 14/856,298, filed Sep. 16,2015, entitled “Earbuds with Biometric Sensing;” Ser. No. 14/856,402,filed Sep. 16, 2015, entitled “Earbuds with Biometric Sensing,”. Each ofthese references is hereby incorporated by reference in their entiretyfor all purposes.

FIELD

The described embodiments relate generally to the integration ofbiometric sensors into an earbud. More particularly, the presentembodiments are directed towards positioning a biometric sensor along anexterior surface of the earbud so it can be placed in direct contactwith a portion of a user's ear during use of the earbud.

BACKGROUND

Portable electronic device users have shown increasing interest inbiometric tracking. Biometric sensors often need to be in close or evendirect contact with the skin to properly measure and track biometricparameters along the lines of heart rate, VO₂, and core temperature.Requiring a user to place a sensor in direct contact with the skin totrack these types of biometric data can be overly burdensome, makingadoption of the biometric tracking more difficult. Consequently,mechanisms for unobtrusively measuring biometric parameters are highlydesirable.

SUMMARY

This disclosure describes various embodiments that relate to ways inwhich biometric sensors can be configured for optimal use with an audioaccessory device.

An earbud is disclosed that includes at least the following elements: ahousing defining an opening proximate a first end of the housing; aspeaker disposed within the housing and oriented so that audio emittedby the speaker exits the housing through the opening defined by thehousing; a biometric sensor positioned along an exterior surface of thehousing at the first end of the housing; and a compliant member coupledwith a second end of the housing.

An audio device is disclosed that includes at least the followingelements: a first earbud and a second earbud, each earbud including: anearbud housing, a speaker disposed within the earbud housing andconfigured to project audio out of an opening defined by the earbudhousing, circuitry configured to receive audio data and transmit theaudio data to the speaker, and a compliant member coupled with theearbud housing.

An earbud is disclosed that includes at least the following: an earbudhousing; a speaker disposed within the earbud housing; and a compliantmember including a first end pivotally coupled to a first portion of theearbud housing and a second end pivotally coupled to a second portion ofthe earbud housing, the compliant member configured to deform to conformwith an interior geometry of an ear of a user and to exert a force onthe earbud housing that seats the earbud housing proximate the ear canalof the ear of the user when being worn by the user. The compliant membercan take the form of an elastomeric loop. In some embodiments, thecompliant member can be at least partially reinforced by an amount offlexible metal. The pivotal coupling between the compliant member andthe earbud housing can take the form of a hinge with end stops. In someembodiments, the end stops can include contacts that help determine arotational position of each end of the compliant member with respect tothe earbud housing.

An audio device is disclosed that includes at least the followingelements: a device housing having a size and shape suitable for at leastpartial insertion into an ear of a user; a speaker disposed within thedevice housing; a biometric sensor disposed within the device housingand including a sensing surface arranged along an exterior surface ofthe device housing; and a processor configured to determine anorientation of the device housing within the ear of a user using a valueof a biometric parameter detected by the biometric sensor and adjust anoperational state of the speaker in accordance with the determinedorientation

A method for controlling operation of an earbud is disclosed. The methodincludes receiving a signal from an orientation sensor of the earbudconsistent with the earbud being worn in a first ear of a user; sendingonly a first audio channel of a multi-channel audio signal to a speakerunit of the earbud, the first audio channel being associated with thefirst ear of the user; and adjusting an operational state of a sensor ofthe earbud in accordance with the signal received from the orientationsensor.

An audio device is disclosed that includes at least the followingelements: a speaker; a wireless transceiver; a biometric sensor formeasuring a biometric parameter of a user of the audio device; an energystorage device providing power for operation of the speaker, thebiometric sensor and the wireless transceiver; and an earbud housingenclosing the speaker, the wireless transceiver the biometric sensor andthe energy storage device. The biometric parameter measured by thebiometric sensor is utilized to determine an orientation of the earbudhousing within an ear of a user of the audio device, the determinationof the orientation then utilized to change an operating characteristicof the speaker.

An earbud is disclosed that includes at least the following elements: anorientation sensor configured to determine an orientation of the earbudwithin an ear of a user of the earbud; a microphone array includingmultiple microphones; and circuitry configured to adjust an operationalstate of the microphones of the microphone array in accordance withinformation provided by the orientation sensor.

An audio device is disclosed that includes at least the followingelements: a device housing having a shape and size suitable for at leastpartial insertion into an ear of a user; an orientation sensorconfigured to provide an orientation of the device housing with respectto the ear of the user; an array of microphones disposed within thedevice housing, the array of microphones including a first microphone, asecond microphone, and a third microphone; and a processor configured toadjust an operational state of the first and second microphones inaccordance with the orientation of the device housing.

An audio device is disclosed that includes at least the followingelements: a speaker; a wireless transceiver; a biometric sensorconfigured to measure both an orientation of the audio device in an earof a user and a biometric parameter; a microphone array; an energystorage device providing power for the audio device; and an earbudhousing enclosing the speaker, the microphone array, the wirelesstransceiver, the biometric sensor and the energy storage device. Theorientation of the earbud housing within the ear of the user of theaudio device is utilized to adjust an operating state of the microphonearray.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The disclosure will be readily understood by the following detaileddescription in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein likereference numerals designate like structural elements, and in which:

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary device suitable for use with the describedembodiments;

FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of an earbud device that includes anumber of electrical components used to support the described devicefunctionality;

FIGS. 3A-3B show views of an earbud situated in the ear of a user andhow a biometric sensor of the earbud contacts the tragus of the user;

FIGS. 4A-4B show a number of views of an earbud having a biasing membertaking the form of a compliant member;

FIG. 4C shows how the compliant member depicted in FIGS. 4A-4B can beconfigured to provide a fixed amount of force for users having a variedear sizes;

FIGS. 5A-5B shows how the biasing member can be interchangeably removedfrom an earbud by way of a locking channel;

FIGS. 6A-6C show side views of an earbud having a biasing member takingthe form of a deformable loop pivotally coupled with the earbud;

FIGS. 7A-7C show a number of alternate embodiments of the deformableloop depicted in FIGS. 6A-6C;

FIGS. 8A-8B show how the deformable loop conforms to the ear of a userof the earbud;

FIG. 9 show an embodiment in which the compliant member takes the formof a single compliant member with one end protruding from the earbud;

FIGS. 10A-10B show an earbud positioned within the ear of a user withsensors configured to determine an orientation of the earbud;

FIG. 11 shows an earbud having a housing that defines multiple openingsfor receiving audio content at multiple microphones; and

FIG. 12 shows a flow chart depicting a process for determining anorientation of an earbud within the ear of a user.

Other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent fromthe following detailed description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings which illustrate, by way of example, theprinciples of the described embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Representative applications of methods and apparatus according to thepresent application are described in this section. These examples arebeing provided solely to add context and aid in the understanding of thedescribed embodiments. It will thus be apparent to one skilled in theart that the described embodiments may be practiced without some or allof these specific details. In other instances, well known process stepshave not been described in detail in order to avoid unnecessarilyobscuring the described embodiments. Other applications are possible,such that the following examples should not be taken as limiting.

In the following detailed description, references are made to theaccompanying drawings, which form a part of the description and in whichare shown, by way of illustration, specific embodiments in accordancewith the described embodiments. Although these embodiments are describedin sufficient detail to enable one skilled in the art to practice thedescribed embodiments, it is understood that these examples are notlimiting; such that other embodiments may be used, and changes may bemade without departing from the spirit and scope of the describedembodiments.

Biometric sensors can take many forms and can be configured to measure alarge range of biometric parameters. Unfortunately, persistent,long-term monitoring of these biometric parameters can be challengingand/or undesirable when the monitoring interferes with any aspect of auser's everyday life. One way to make the incorporation of biometricsensors into a user's everyday life more palatable is to integrate thesensors with a type of device that the user already utilizes.Alternatively, the biometric sensor or sensors can also be integratedinto a wearable device that can be worn unobtrusively.

Wearable devices that can be configured with a biometric sensor includea set of earphones and an individual earbud. Because the earbud portionof the earphones sits at least partially within the ear canal of a userduring use, an exterior surface of the earbud contacts various portionsof the ear to keep it positioned within the ear of a user. One exemplarytype of biometric sensor that can be used to record biometric parametersof a user is a photoplethysmogram (PPG) sensor that measures biometricparameters by shining light and then measuring the reflectivity of thatlight off the skin. Variations in the reflectivity can be used tocharacterize profusion of the blood through the skin of a user.Unfortunately, the exterior surface of a conventional earbud doesn'ttypically make sufficiently solid and/or consistent contact with awell-profused portion of the ear to provide reliable biometric parametermeasurements. One solution to this problem is to arrange the PPG sensoralong a surface of the earbud at an end of the earbud near a speakeropening of the earbud. In this way, when the speaker opening is alignedwith the ear canal, the PPG sensor can contact an interior facingsurface of the tragus of the ear. Contact between the interior facingsurface of the tragus of the ear and the PPG sensor can be maintained byadding a compliant member to an opposing end of the earbud. Thecompliant member can then engage an opposite surface of the ear known asthe concha so that the earbud is wedged between two opposing surfaces ofthe ear. By choosing a compliant member formed of compressible orotherwise deformable material, the earbud can be well-suited to fitwithin the ears of a broad spectrum of users.

An earbud can also be equipped with various other sensors that can workindependently or in concert with the biometric sensor described above.For example, in some embodiments, the other sensors can take the form ofan orientation sensor to help the earbud determine which ear the earbudis positioned within and then adjust operation of the earbud inaccordance with that determination. In some embodiments, the orientationsensor can be a traditional inertial-based sensor while in otherembodiments, sensor readings from another biometric sensor such as aproximity sensor or a temperature sensor can be used to make anorientation determination.

An earbud with the aforementioned sensors can also include additionalsensors such as a microphone or array of microphones. In someembodiments, at least two microphones from a microphone array can bearranged along a line pointed towards or at least near the mouth of auser. By using information received by the orientation sensor orsensors, a controller within the earbud can determine which microphonesof a microphone array should be activated to obtain this configuration.By activating only those microphones arranged along a vector pointed ator near the mouth, ambient audio signals not originating near the mouthcan be ignored by applying a spatial filtering process.

These and other embodiments are discussed below with reference to FIGS.1-12; however, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that thedetailed description given herein with respect to these figures is forexplanatory purposes only and should not be construed as limiting.

FIG. 1 shows a portable media device 100 suitable for use with a varietyof accessory devices. Portable media device 100 can include touchsensitive display 102 configured to provide a touch sensitive userinterface for controlling portable media device 100 and in someembodiments any accessories to which portable media device 100 iselectrically or wirelessly coupled. In some embodiments, portable mediadevice 100 can include additional controls such as, for example, button104. Portable media device 100 can also include multiple hard-wiredinput/output (I/O) ports that include digital I/O port 106 and analogI/O port 108. Accessory device 110 can take the form of an audio devicethat includes two separate earbuds 112 and 114. Each of earbuds 112 and114 can include wireless receivers or transceivers capable ofestablishing a wireless link 116 with portable media device 100.Accessory device 120, which can also be compatible with portable mediadevice 100, can take the form of a wired audio device that includesearbuds 122 and 124. Earbuds 122 and 124 can be electrically coupled toeach other and to a connector plug 126 by a number of wires. Inembodiments where connector plug 126 is an analog plug sensors withineither one of earbuds 122 and 124 can receive power through analog I/Oport 108 while transmitting data by way of a wireless protocol such asBluetooth, Wi-Fi, or the like. In embodiments where connector plug 126interacts with digital I/O port 106, sensor data and audio data can befreely passed through the wires during use of portable media device 100and accessory device 120. It should be noted that earbuds 122 and 124can be swappable between left and right ears when the wire attached toeach earbud is attached along a line of symmetry of each earbud, oralternatively when the wire is attached by a pivoting coupling. Stereochannels can be swapped between wires when attached to digital I/O port106.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic view of an earbud 200 that can be incorporatedinto accessory device 110 as earbud 112 and/or earbud 114 orincorporated into accessory device 120 as earbud 122 and/or earbud 124.In some embodiments, earbud 200 can include a housing 202. Housing 202can have a size and/or shape that allows it to be easily inserted withinthe ear of an end user. Housing 202 also defines an interior volumewithin which numerous electrical components can be distributed. Inparticular, a biometric sensor 204 can be situated within or at leastsupported by housing 202. As depicted, biometric sensor 204 can bearranged within and close an opening in housing 202. In this way,biometric sensor 204 can have an exterior facing sensing surface capableof interacting with and measuring external stimuli. Housing 202 can alsoinclude a protrusion 203 with an opening at a distal end of theprotrusion 203 that provides a channel through which audio signals canbe transmitted out and into the ear canal of a user of earbud 200, asindicated by the arrow.

In some embodiments, biometric sensor 204 can take the form of aphotoplethysmogram (PPG) sensor. A PPG sensor utilizes a pulse oximeterto illuminate a patch of skin and measure changes in light absorption ofthe skin. The pulse oximeter can include one or more light emittingdevices and one or more light collecting devices. In some embodiments,the light emitting device can take the form of a light emitting diode(LED) and the light collecting device can take the form of a photodiodefor measuring the changes in light absorption. The changes in lightabsorption can be caused by the profusion of blood within the skinduring each cardiac cycle. Because the profusion of blood into the skincan be affected by multiple other physiological systems this type ofbiometric monitoring system can provide many types of biometricinformation. By capturing wave forms associated with the cyclingprofusion of blood to the skin, multiple biometric parameters can becollected including, for example, heart rate, blood volume andrespiratory rate. By using LEDs that emit different wavelengths of lightadditional data can be gathered such as, for example, VO₂ max (i.e., themaximal rate of oxygen absorption by the body). By arranging biometricsensor 204 in the depicted position with respect to housing 202,biometric sensor 204 can be placed in contact with a tragus of the ear,which advantageously tends to get well-profused with blood, therebyallowing sensor readings made by a pulse oximeter in the area of thetragus to be particularly accurate. In some embodiments, biometricsensor 204 can take the form of a core temperature sensor. Otherembodiments of biometric sensor 204 include embodiment in which thebiometric sensor takes the form of an electrode. When the earbud is awired earbud electrically coupled to another earbud with an electrode,the electrodes can cooperatively measure a number of different biometricparameters. In some embodiments, the electrodes can be configured tomeasure the galvanic skin response (GSR) of a user. A GSR can be usefulin determining an amount of stress being experienced by the user at anygiven moment in time. In some embodiments, the electrodes can be used tomeasure more detailed parameters of the heart by taking the form of anelectrocardiogram (EKG) sensor or an impedance cardiography (ICG)sensor.

Biometric sensor 204 can be in electrical communication with at leastcontroller 206, which is responsible for controlling various aspects ofearbud 200. For example, controller 206 can gather biometric sensor datarecorded by biometric sensor 204 and pass that data along to input/ouput(I/O) interface 208. I/O interface 208 can be configured to transmit thebiometric sensor data to another device such as, for example, portablemedia device 100 by way of link 210. Link 210 can be generated invarious ways. For example, link 210 can be a wireless link when I/Ointerface 208 takes the form of a wireless transceiver suitable for usein an accessory such as accessory device 110 depicted in FIG. 1.Alternatively, link 210 can be transmitted over a wired connector suchas the wires depicted with accessory device 120. In addition toproviding a conduit for transmitting biometric sensor data provided bybiometric sensor 204, I/O interface 208 can also be used to receiveaudio content that can be processed by controller 206 and sent on tospeaker 212. I/O interface 208 can also receive control signals from adevice similar to portable media device 100 for accomplishing tasks suchas adjusting a volume output of speaker 212 or modifying a sensitivity,priority or duty cycle of biometric sensor 204. When I/O interface 208takes the form of a wireless transceiver, I/O interface 208 can includean antenna configured to transmit and receive signals through an antennawindow or an opening defined by housing 202. This can be particularlyimportant when housing 202 is formed of radio opaque material. In someembodiments, I/O interface 208 can also represent one or more exteriorcontrols (e.g. buttons and/or switches) for performing tasks such aspairing earbud 200 with another device or adjusting various settings ofearbud 200 such as volume or the like.

Earbud 200 can also include memory 214, which can be configured to carryout any number of tasks. For example, memory 214 can be configured tostore media content when a user of earbud 200 wants to use earbud 200independent from any other device. In such a use case, memory 214 can beloaded with one or more media files for independent playback. Whenearbud 200 is being used with another device, memory 214 can also beused to buffer media data received from the other device. In theindependent use case described above, memory 214 can also be used tostore sensor data recorded by biometric sensor 204. The sensor data canthen be sent to a device along the lines of portable media device 100once the two devices are in communication.

With the possible exception of when I/O interface 208 is a wiredinterface that can provide power to earbud 200 from another device orpower source, battery 216 is generally used for powering operations ofearbud 200. Battery 216 can provide the energy needed to perform any ofa number of tasks including: maintain a wireless link 210, poweringcontroller 206, driving speaker 212, powering biometric sensor 204 andpowering any other sensors 218. While other sensors are shown as ageneric block, other sensors 218 can include sensors such asmicrophones, orientation sensors, proximity sensors or any other sensorsuitable for improving the user experience of earbud 200. In someembodiments, one or more of sensors 218 can be used in combination withbiometric sensor 204 to improve accuracy or calibrate various results.It should be noted that other sensors 218 are not required in all of theembodiments described herein.

Earbud 200 can also include a compliant member 220 coupled with anexterior surface of housing 202. Compliant member 220 can be configuredto provide an interference fit for earbud 200 within the ear of a user.As there can be large variations in the size and shape of the ears ofany particular user, the compliant member allows earbud 200 to conformto a number of different ear shapes and sizes. Furthermore, in someconfigurations compliant member 220 can be removable so that variousdifferent compliant member sizes and shapes can be used to furthercustomize the overall size of earbud 200 to the ear of any user.Compliant member 220 can be made from any of a number of different typesof materials including, for example, open-cell foam, thermoplasticelastomers (TPE) and the like. In some embodiments, a material used toconstruct compliant member 220 can be configured to provide more forceupon the ear of a user resulting in a more robust fit within the ear ofa user. A compliant member constructed in this way can be better suitedfor athletic activities.

FIGS. 3A-3B show views of housing 202 positioned within an ear of auser. FIG. 3A depicts interference region 302, which represents aninterface area between biometric sensor 204 and the tragus 304 of theuser. FIG. 3B depicts how protrusion 203 can be positioned within theear canal of the user to minimize an amount of power lost as audiocontent exits housing 202. While FIGS. 3A-3B don't specifically pointout compliant member 220, it should be understood that housing 202 caninclude a rear compliant portion integrated within housing 202 that canaccommodate a certain amount of compression that allows secure seatingof housing 202 within the ear of the user. As depicted in FIG. 3Bhousing 202 of earbud 300 is compressed between tragus 304 and concha306 of the depicted ear, thereby preventing earbud 300 from beingdislodged from the ear and maintaining a consistent amount of pressuresufficient to keep biometric sensor 204 consistently engaged ininterference region 302.

FIGS. 4A-4B show views of housing 202 and compliant member 220 of earbud200 situated within the ear of a user. In particular, frictional forcesacting upon compliant member 220 are depicted in FIG. 4A. The depictedforces show how compressive and friction forces generated betweencompliant member 220 and the concha of the ear can help maintain earbud200 within the ear of the user. FIG. 4A also shows a slight variation ofthe compliant member design depicted in FIG. 2 in that compliant member220 is situated within a channel defined by housing 202. In this way,housing 202 can be made substantially larger while still allowingcompliant member 220 to deform within the channel to yield asatisfactory fit and feel for the user of earbud 200. FIG. 4B shows topand side views of earbud 200. In particular an uncompressed lengthdimension of compliant member 220 can be about 9 mm. It should be notedthat this length is given for exemplary purposes only and that varyinglengths are possible and even desirable to accommodate various eargeometries of different users.

FIG. 4C depicts a graph showing stress with respect to strain for anexemplary compliant member 220. By making a careful material choice,FIG. 4C shows how an amount of stress provided by compliant member 220can be kept substantially the same over a large range of strain. Forexample, a user with a smaller ear size that causes a change in lengthof about 50% would only experience a slightly greater amount of stressthan a user with larger ears who only ends up compressing compliantmember 220 by about 20%. In this way, a compliant member of a particularsize can accommodate ears having a wide range of sizes, whilesubstantially maintaining an amount of force placed on the ear of auser. In this way, situations in which the compliant member 220 exerts apainful amount of force or conversely not enough force to maintainearbud 200 within the ear can be avoided.

FIGS. 5A-5B show an embodiment in which a compliant member 220 can beconveniently removed from housing 202. In this embodiment, FIG. 5A showslinking feature 502 affixed to compliant member 220. In someembodiments, linking feature 502 can act solely as a convenientmechanism for swapping out compliant member 220 with larger compliantmembers, smaller compliant members or compliant members formed ofdifferent materials. Linking feature 502 also acts as an extension ofhousing 202 as depicted. In some embodiments, linking feature 502 caninclude add-on modules along the lines of additional memory storage forcustom media or software content, additional biometric or orientationsensors, and/or additional battery cells. For example, the customsoftware content can include a mobile application for use with a devicesimilar to portable media device 100. When linking feature 502 includesadditional sensors, the sensor within linking feature 502 can provideadditional functionality for the earbud. For example, the sensor withinlinking feature 502 can take the form of a temperature sensor, acapacitive sensor, a microphone or an electrode. Once linking feature502 is coupled with housing 202 then any sensor within linking feature502 can begin providing sensor data and/or gather sensor datacooperatively with the sensor disposed within housing 202.

Linking feature 502 also includes a puzzle shaped protrusion 504 engagedwithin a channel defined by housing 202. Protrusion 504 can includelocking features 506, which can take the form of spring loaded ballbearings that helps to secure linking feature 502 with housing 202 oncelinking feature 502 is properly aligned with housing 202. In someembodiments, protrusion 504 can include environmental seals at each endthat prevent the intrusion of sweat or moisture between the interface ofprotrusion 504 and the channel defined by housing 202.

FIG. 5B shows how protrusion 504 can also include one or more electricalcontacts 508. Electrical contacts 508 can match up with electricalcontacts positioned within the channel defined by housing 202. In thisway, when contacts 508 and the contacts of housing 202 are aligned arobust electrical connection between components disposed within linkingfeature 502 and housing 202 is formed. This robust electrical connectioncan be used to facilitate the sensor communication briefly discussedabove and/or provide memory with housing 202 access to memory onboardlinking feature 502. When the communication between linking feature 502and housing 202 is initially formed linking feature 502 can provideidentification to a controller disposed within housing 202 so that thecontroller understands the additional functionality added by linkingfeature 502. In some embodiments, the identification can be communicatedto the user in various ways. For example, the user can be apprised ofthe new functionality by audio signals broadcast by the earbud or evenby sending a message to a media player along the lines of portable mediaplayer 100.

FIG. 6A shows a side view of an alternative embodiment in which acompliant member 602 takes the form of a loop of flexible material, eachof its two ends being pivotally coupled to housing 202 at two differentpositions. The pivotal coupling can be accomplished by hinges 604 and606. Hinges 604 and 606 can be configured to provide ranges of motion608 and 610 respectively. In some embodiments, range of motion 608 canbe the same as range of motion 610, while in other embodiments theranges can be either slightly or substantially different. Hinges 604 and606 allow compliant member 602 to have a substantial range of motion,which can assist compliant member 602 in fitting a wide range of earshapes and geometries. In some embodiments, end stops associated witheach of hinges 604 and 606 can take the form of electrical contacts thatcommunicate positional information to a controller of earbud 200. Insuch a configuration, earbud 200 can be configured to alter its playbackin accordance with information provided by the electrical contacts.

For example, FIG. 6B shows a configuration in which hinge 604 ispositioned against one end stop and hinge 606 is positioned againstanother end stop. In such a configuration, controller 206 of earbud 200can be configured to emit audio consistent with a right channel, or thatof a user's right ear. When compliant member 602 is oriented as shown inFIG. 6C in the opposite direction controller 206 can deliver only a leftchannel or music consistent with a user's left ear. This configurationwould allow earbud 200 to be interchangeable between a left ear and aright ear. In some embodiments, earbud 200 can be configured to enter apower-saving mode when neither of hinges 604 or 606 are positioned at anend stop. Such a configuration would be useful in configurations whereat least one of hinges 604 and 606 would necessarily be at an end stopif properly inserted in the ears of a user. Any of these automatedfeatures could be enabled or disable by way of a device configured tocontrol operations of earbud 200. Hinges 604 and 606 could also includea spring based biasing member that returns compliant member 602 to theneutral configuration depicted in FIG. 6A. This would prevent thecontacts from being actuated while not in use and could also provide aconsistent user experience when placing the earbud within the ear of auser.

FIGS. 7A-7C show various alternative earbud configuration similar to theconfiguration depicted in FIGS. 6A-6C. In FIG. 7A a compliant membertakes the form of two wings 702 and 704, each wing having one endpivotally coupled with housing 202. In this configuration, wing 702 andwing 704 can act independently of one another while still including thehinge stops discussed with respect to embodiments depicted in FIGS.6A-6C. FIG. 7B shows an embodiment having a loop 706 of flexiblematerial reinforced by two metal reinforcing members 708 and 710. Thisconfiguration can be desirable to increase a rigidity of loop 706, whereloop 706 wouldn't otherwise be able to provide a firm enough fit to keepearbud 200 firmly secured within the ear of a user of earbud 200. Byleaving a central portion of loop 706 free of reinforcing material aportion of loop 706 that contacts the concha of a user's ear can besubstantially softer and provide a more comfortable fit and userexperience. FIG. 7C shows a configuration in which reinforcing member712 takes the form of a continuous length of reinforcing materialembedded within loop 706, which can provide a uniform stiffness andresistance for loop 706. A thickness of and material used to constructreinforcing member 712 can be adjusted to achieve a desired amount ofresistance in loop 706.

FIG. 8A shows how loop 802 in an undeformed configuration isincompatible with a shape of the ear of a user, and also depicts adirection in which a force F can be exerted upon loop 802 to deform loop802 for positioning it within the ear of a user. FIG. 8B shows aconfiguration similar to that depicted in FIG. 6B and illustrates howthe natural geometry of the ear causes this type of deformation to occurto loop 802. Because hinge 606 is configured to accommodate rotation ofthe bottom end of the loop past a horizontal position any force exertedthrough hinge 606 doesn't tend to push housing 202 out of position butrather ends up exerting a force F with a downward component on housing202 that tends to keep housing 202 firmly in position while beingutilized.

FIG. 9 shows a configuration having wings similar to those depicted inFIG. 7A; however, FIG. 9 is laid out to show how it may be desirable tohave only an upper wing 902 as a lower wing 904 could interfere and beharder to position within the ear. In a single wing configuration, auser would be able to distinguish which ear to put each earbud in bychoosing an earbud that fits within the ear in a way that arranges thewing in an orientation facing the upper portion of the ear of the user.Upper wing 902 can be formed of an elastomeric material and have bluntconformable end that can be positioned comfortably within the ear of auser. A width and resiliency of upper wing 902 can be tuned to provide adesired fit.

FIGS. 10A-10B show a side view and a partial cross-sectional viewrespectively of a multi-sensor earbud 1000 disposed within the ear of auser. FIG. 10A points out sensing regions 1002 and 1004 of multi-sensorearbud 1000. When sensors associated with sensing regions 1002 and 1004are capable of identifying direct contact between an associated sensingregion and a surface of the ear, then those sensors can be used todetermine an orientation of the multi-sensor earbud 1000 within the ear.Both FIGS. 10A and 10B illustrate why this would be the case sinceregardless of which ear multi-sensor earbud 1000 is positioned in one ofsensing regions 1002 and 1004 is in direct contact with the ear and theother sensing region is not. One type of sensor that can detect contactbetween a sensing region and the ear is a proximity sensor. Theproximity sensor can take the form of an infrared light emitter andreceiver. By transmitting infrared light and receiving the infraredlight bounced back off the ear, the proximity sensor can determine adistance between the corresponding sensing region and the ear. Bymeasuring a distance between the proximity sensor and the nearestobject, a proximity sensor associated with sensing region 1004 could beable to confirm that multi-sensor earbud 1000 is situated in the rightear of a user. Another type of sensor that can accomplish theorientation determination would be a temperature sensor. If multi-sensorearbud 1000 included two temperature sensors, one associated with eachsensing region, a controller or processor within multi-sensor earbud1000 could be configured to compare the two temperature readings anddetermine from the temperature differential whether: (a) the earbud isinserted in an ear at all; and (b) what the orientation of multi-sensorearbud 1000 is within the ear. In addition to its use as a temperaturesensor, a temperature sensor determined to be in direct contact with auser's ear could be used to provide core temperature information, whilethe second temperature sensor could be configured to provide an ambienttemperature In the depicted embodiment, the temperature sensorassociated with sensing region 1004 would experience a substantiallyhigher temperature than the temperature associated with sensing region1002. A capacitive sensor could also be used to detect positive contactbetween the sensing regions and the ear of the user.

Any of the aforementioned sensor configurations could also be used toidentify whether or not the earbud is inserted in the ear of a user atall. A power management utility can be adapted to manage an operationalstate of multi-sensor earbud 1000 in accordance with that information.Multi-sensor earbud 1000 can include many operational states including,for example, a media playback mode, a standby mode, a disabled mode anda noise cancelling mode. When the power management utility determinesmulti-sensor earbud 1000 is no longer being worn it can be configured tochange the operational state from the playback or noise cancelling modeto the standby or disabled mode. While numerous examples ofnon-conventional orientation sensors have been discussed it should beappreciated that an inertial orientation sensor can also be used and iscontemplated within the scope of this disclosure. As can be appreciateda basic orientation sensor would also be capable of distinguishingbetween two opposing orientations.

FIG. 11 shows an earbud 1100 positioned within an ear of a user. Housing1102 of earbud 1100 includes numerous microphone openings through whichaudio signals can propagate to microphones disposed within housing 1102of earbud 1100. FIG. 11 depicts two front microphone openings 1104 and1106 and one rear microphone opening 1108, the three openings beingarranged in a triangular configuration. These microphone openings can bearranged in a symmetric configuration so that earbud 1100 can operate ina consistent manner regardless of which ear earbud 1100 is positionedin. Microphones positioned within earbud housing 1102 and behind eachmicrophone opening can be configured for many different purposes. Insome embodiments, an operational mode of each microphone can be adjustedin accordance with orientation data collected by an orientation sensorof earbud 1100 as described above in relation to FIGS. 10A-10B.

Once an orientation sensor or sensors configured to provide orientationinformation provide orientation data to a controller within earbud 1100,the controller can compare signals received from both microphones usinga spatial filtering process that removes any audio information notarriving within a region 10-20 degrees on either side of a direction1110 along which microphone openings 1106 and 1108 are both arranged.The spatial filtering can be conducted in many ways, but in oneparticular embodiment, a time difference of arrival technique can beused, which includes comparing a time at which audio signals arereceived at a first one of the microphones to a time at which the sameaudio signals are received at the second microphone to determine a timedelay. While time difference of arrival calculations generally requirethree sampling points to determine a direction of arrival, becausemicrophone openings 1106 and 1108 are aligned with a direction of thedesired sampling source only two sampling sources are required in thistype of configuration.

In some embodiments, all content arriving first at microphone opening1108 can be disregarded while all content arriving at microphone opening1106 first could be included and processed. This would allow only audiocontent arriving from a direction in which the user was facing to berecorded. In some embodiments, a delay associated with an audio signaltraveling directly along direction 1110 can be known. To allow for anamount of variation in a direction of arrival of speech from the user tobe accommodated any delay within 20% of the known delay period can beprocessed. In still other embodiments, the microphone array can beconfigured to collect only the top percentage of audio having thelongest delay period where audio arrives first at microphone opening1106. This configuration could be desirable when a user wished to recordambient audio signals when not actively speaking. For example, themicrophone array could switch between modes where only the user is beingrecorded to a mode where ambient audio is collected after apredetermined period of time passes with no speech being detected fromthe user. In some embodiments, any errors created by variation between adirection from which speech reaches the microphone array and anorientation of microphone openings 1106 and 1108 can be ameliorated bycalibration software configured to adjust a collection window inaccordance with the variations. In some embodiments, the calibrationsoftware can be hosted upon a device such as portable media device 100.

In some embodiments, unused microphone opening 1104 can be configured tocarry out other functions. For example, a controller within earbud 1100can be configured to process audio content received by a microphonepositioned behind microphone opening 1104 to provide noise cancellationcapabilities to earbud 1100. In some embodiments, the noise cancellingprovided by earbud 1100 can be setup to provide selective noisecancelling which allows any audio received within the 10-20 degreewindow to be allowed through, while in other embodiments, substantiallyall audio can be screened out. In this way, during a conversation aperson's own voice wouldn't prevent the speaker from being able to hearother speakers attempting to enter or participate in a conversation. Insome embodiments, a microphone associated with microphone opening 1104can be used in conjunction with other microphones to provide moredetailed information upon a direction from which an audio signaloriginates. Alternatively, a microphone associated with microphoneopening 1104 can just be disabled or turned off until orientation datais provided indicating a change in orientation of earbud 1100. In someembodiments, a change in orientation data indicating earbud 1100 hadbeen placed in the other ear of the user would result in functionscarried out by microphones associated with microphone openings 1104 and1106 being swapped. Alternatively, housing 1102 can only include twomicrophone openings, for example, just openings 1106 and 1108. In suchan embodiment, if a user was utilizing one earbud 1100 in each ear, onlyone of the earbuds would have microphone openings directed towards amouth of a user. Orientation data or audio sampling processes could beused to determine which earbud had microphone openings aligned with themouth of the user.

In addition to swapping functionality of microphones associated withmicrophone openings 1104 and 1106, when a user is actively utilizing aset of earbuds 1100, the microphones can periodically sample audio fromboth earbuds at which point a processor either within one or both ofearbuds 1100 or a paired device along the lines of portable media device100 can compare both samples and direct the earbud with better qualityto be activated while leaving the other earbud microphones in a standbyor periodic sampling mode. Furthermore, since operation of themicrophones can consume battery power, microphones within an earbud canbe activated when that earbud has a substantially greater battery chargethan the other earbud.

FIG. 12 shows a flow chart illustrating a method for determining anorientation of an earbud within the ear of a user. In a first block1202, a signal is received at a processor or controller of the earbudfrom an orientation sensor of the earbud indicating an orientation ofthe earbud is consistent with a first audio channel of a multi-channelaudio signal. The orientation sensor can take many forms including butnot limited to a conventional inertial sensor, a temperature sensor, aproximity sensor, a capacitive sensor or the like. In a second block1204, the processor sends only the first audio signal of themulti-channel audio signal to a speaker unit. The first audio channelcan represent one of a left or right channel of the multi-channel audiosignal when the multi-channel audio signal is a stereo audio signal.Alternatively, orientation sensor information can be used tocontinuously update channel information. For example, if it isdetermined that only a single earbud is being used, the channels can becombined into a single channel or a combined channel creating virtualleft and right channels within a single earbud can be carried out. Inthis way, a more consistent audio experience can be achieved bypreventing content normally routed through the removed earbud from beingmissed. In block 1206, an operating state of a sensor of the earbud isadjusted in accordance with orientation sensor data from the orientationsensor. In some embodiments, a biometric sensor can be arranged to focusits readings on a portion of the body most likely to provide highquality biometric parameters. For example, light emitted from a PPGsensor can be angled to focus on a portion of the tragus likely to bewell-profused with blood. In another embodiment, orientation sensor datacan be used in determining which sensors should be activated and/ordeactivated. In some embodiments, roles or operational states for anarray of sensors can be assigned based upon the orientation data. Inthese ways, orientation information can be utilized to optimize a userexperience of one or more earbuds.

The various aspects, embodiments, implementations or features of thedescribed embodiments can be used separately or in any combination.Various aspects of the described embodiments can be implemented bysoftware, hardware or a combination of hardware and software. Thedescribed embodiments can also be embodied as computer readable code ona computer readable medium for controlling manufacturing operations oras computer readable code on a computer readable medium for controllinga manufacturing line. The computer readable medium is any data storagedevice that can store data which can thereafter be read by a computersystem. Examples of the computer readable medium include read-onlymemory, random-access memory, CD-ROMs, HDDs, DVDs, magnetic tape, andoptical data storage devices. The computer readable medium can also bedistributed over network-coupled computer systems so that the computerreadable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion.

The foregoing description, for purposes of explanation, used specificnomenclature to provide a thorough understanding of the describedembodiments. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art thatthe specific details are not required in order to practice the describedembodiments. Thus, the foregoing descriptions of specific embodimentsare presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are notintended to be exhaustive or to limit the described embodiments to theprecise forms disclosed. It will be apparent to one of ordinary skill inthe art that many modifications and variations are possible in view ofthe above teachings.

What is claimed is:
 1. An earbud, comprising: an earbud housing definingan opening; a speaker disposed within the earbud housing and oriented sothat audio emitted by the speaker exits the earbud housing through theopening; and a compliant member coupled to the earbud housing andcomprising: a loop of flexible material, a first reinforcing memberextending along a length of a first portion of the loop; a secondreinforcing member extending along a length of a second portion of theloop, and a third portion of the loop disposed between the first andsecond portions and free of reinforcing material such that the thirdportion of the loop is less rigid than the first and second portions ofthe loop.
 2. The earbud as recited in claim 1, wherein the first andsecond reinforcing members are the same length.
 3. The earbud as recitedin claim 1, wherein the flexible material is an elastomeric materialthat is less rigid than the first and second reinforcing members.
 4. Theearbud as recited in claim 3, wherein the first and second reinforcingmembers comprise spring steel.
 5. The earbud as recited in claim 1,wherein the flexible material at least partially encloses the firstreinforcing member and the second reinforcing member.
 6. The earbud asrecited in claim 5, wherein the first portion of the loop is positionedadjacent to the earbud housing and the second portion of the loop ispositioned adjacent to the earbud housing.
 7. The earbud as recited inclaim 1, wherein the compliant member is pivotally coupled to the earbudhousing by a hinge.
 8. An earbud, comprising: an earbud housing definingan opening; a speaker disposed within the earbud housing and oriented sothat audio emitted by the speaker exits the earbud housing through theopening; and a compliant member coupled to the earbud housing, thecompliant member comprising: a loop formed from a flexible material, theloop comprising a first portion at least partially enclosing a firstinterior volume, a second portion at least partially enclosing a secondinterior volume and a third portion disposed between the first andsecond portions; a first reinforcing member disposed within the firstinterior volume and extending along a length of the first portion; and asecond reinforcing member disposed within the second interior volume andextending along a length of the second portion such that the thirdportion of the loop is less rigid than the first and second portions ofthe loop.
 9. The earbud as recited in claim 8, wherein the flexiblematerial is elastomeric.
 10. The earbud as recited in claim 8, whereinthe first and second reinforcing members are positioned on opposing endsof the loop.
 11. The earbud as recited in claim 8, wherein the firstportion is adjacent to a first location on the earbud housing and thesecond portion is adjacent to a second location on the earbud housingoffset from the first location.
 12. The earbud as recited in claim 8,wherein the compliant member is positioned on a first side of the earbudhousing and the opening defined by the earbud housing is positioned on asecond side of the earbud housing.
 13. The earbud as recited in claim 8,wherein the first portion of the loop is closer to the earbud housingthan the third portion of the loop.
 14. An earbud, comprising: an earbudhousing; a speaker disposed within the earbud housing and oriented sothat audio emitted by the speaker exits the earbud housing through anopening; and a compliant member coupled to the earbud housing andcomprising a loop of flexible material, and a reinforcing memberextending along a length of a first portion of the loop, the firstportion of the loop having a higher rigidity than a second portion ofthe loop.
 15. The earbud as recited in claim 14, wherein a first end ofthe complaint member protrudes from a first location on the earbudhousing and a second end of the compliant member protrudes from a secondlocation on the earbud housing.
 16. The earbud as recited in claim 14,wherein the reinforcing member is a first reinforcing member and thecompliant member further comprises a second reinforcing member extendingalong a length of a third portion of the loop.
 17. The earbud as recitedin claim 16, wherein the second portion of the loop is positionedbetween the first and third portions of the loop and the second portionof the loop is positioned farther from the earbud housing than both thefirst and third portions of the loop.
 18. The earbud as recited in claim16, wherein the compliant member comprises a length of flexible materialthat encloses both the first and second reinforcing members.
 19. Theearbud as recited in claim 14, wherein the compliant member isconfigured to keep the earbud housing secured within an ear of a user.20. The earbud as recited in claim 14, wherein the earbud housingcomprises a protrusion, a distal end of the protrusion defining theopening.